China continues steady development of braille materials

(4 January 2019) China has sped up efforts concerning braille and continued braille standardization, said an official with the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) on Friday.

At an event commemorating the first World Braille Day, which falls on Jan. 4, Cheng Kai, vice president of the CDPF, said the official standards for braille have gradually been promoted across the country, especially in special schools and the public service sector.

President of the China Braille Press Zhang Wei said the press has published 1,827 varieties of braille books and 189 types of braille teaching materials.

More than 500,000 copies of braille reading materials are accessible at the China Braille Library, said Zhang, adding that the digital braille library has over 13,000 types of audio reading materials, with a duration of about 60,000 hours.

By the end of 2017, China had more than 959 reading rooms for braille and audio reading materials, which were built in the public libraries at county, prefectural and provincial levels nationwide, Cheng added.

China now has 85 million disabled people, of whom around one fifth, or 17 million, have visual disabilities.